Vending machine



Sept. 16, 1941. J. H. BRIDWELL VENDING MACHINE l Filed Oct. 3l, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l :I: =l E E 30 Z2 36 5 4,; L 4,0 /6 Z6 7@ J Z4 I i l Patented Sept. 16, 1.941

UNTE STATES Y 1 Claim.

My invention relates to improvements in vending machines and its general object is to provide a device of this character which is manually operable when a coin is inserted.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of this character, wherein a sound is produced when the vending occurs.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a device of this character which is easily and readily rellable, and wherein the vendible commodity is visible.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a device of this character, which is simple in operation, has relatively few working parts, which will not easily get out of repair, and which is economical to manufacture.

With these and other objects in view, as will hereafter more fully appear, and as will be more specifically pointed out in the appended claim, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational view, showing my improved vending machine;

v Fig. 2 is also a side elevational view, showing the hinged top open;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3 3 oi Fig. 1;

Fig. l is a detailed view, in section, taken on the line @-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detailed View, in section, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a detailed view, in section, taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

The machine will be used principally for vending small nuts, such as shelled peanuts, but it Will be understood that granular material and other vendible commodities may be dispensed, as well.

Referring now to the drawings in which similar reference characters represent similar parts, particular reference now being made to Figs. l, 2 and 3, the vending machine comprises a cylindrical body portion Iii, of glass or other suitable transparent material, adapted to receive the nuts or other vendible commodity. Body portion lll is supported and held in place by a cylindrical support l2, provided with a vertical extension strip I4, to which is attached a conventional hasp i6, for fastening the top i3 in place by means of staple 2S, where it may be locked by conventional padlock 22. The top I3 is pivotally secured to coin chute 2d by means oi a bolt 26. The cylindrical support I2 and the coin chute 24 are supported by a rectangular base indicated generally at 23, which also acts as a housing for the working parts of the machine and the coin receptacle. l

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 4, 5 and 6, support l2 is provided with an opening 29, through which the nuts, or other vendible commodity flow into sliding hopper lili. Sliding hopper 3&3 is secured to and supports top plunger 32 by means of bolt 313, through an elongated opening 35 of the hopper housing t8. Plunger 32 and sliding hopper 3l! are normally held in retracted position by the action of coil spring GQ, one end of which is attached to the plunger and the other end to housing 28 by means of bolts or studs l2 andll. Top plunger 32 is provided with a slot d6, adapted to receive a coin tt, held in place by :bolt 5D. Directly underneath the top plunger is a bottom plunger 52. having its front face formed with a relatively narrow laterally disposed and forwardly extending section 56 defining one side of a vertical slot 58, through which coin 13S may pass. Bottom plunger 52 is normally held in retracted position under action of coil spring Sli, one end of which is afiixed to the housing 28 by means of a bolt or stud 62, the other end being affixed to stud 64. One end of stud @s extends into slotted opening 54, the other end extending through a circular opening of one end of operating rod 66. The other end of operating rod 66 is provided with a stud 68, adapted to fit in a circular opening in the lower end of rocker arm lll. Rocker arm 'l0 is pivotally secured to an extension of the base 28 by means of bolt l2, as shown in Fig. 3. Lever 1l is also pivoted by means of bolt 12 and the lower end of thelever is rigidly attached to the upper end of rocker arm lil. The underface of the bottom plunger 52 is formed with one way ratchet teeth 'i6 engageable by a tooth '8 formed on a pawl 80, the front end of which is pivotally connected to the housing by a bolt S2. The rear end of the pawl S8 terminates in an upwardly extending section, the upper end of said section being engaged by the rear arciforrn end face of the plunger 32 to dispose the tooth 'E8 out of engagement With the teeth l5 of the lower plunger when the upper plunger 32 is in retracted position as clearly illustrated in Figure 4. When the upper plunger 32 is actuated forwardly, the rear end section oi the pawl 8f3 is released from engagement with the arciform rear end face of the plunger 32 thereby permitting the tooth 'i8 and pawl 88 to be moved upwardly through the medium of a spring 84 sleeved on the bolt 82 and having its ends engaging the housing and pawl respectively. Thus, when the pawl 80 is actuated upwardly, the tooth 18 is brought into engagement with the teeth 16 of the lower plunger and ratchets over said teeth during forward Vmovement of the lower plunger 52 as hereinafter set forth.V Obviously, the tooth 18 serves to maintain the plunger I in a forward position until released therefrom -by engagement of the upper plunger with the pawl upon retraction of said upper plunger |32. `The housing has attached to its underface, adjacent its rear end, a depending stirrup 86 through which the pawl 8B extends, said stirrup serving to limit the downward move- Y ment of the pawl and to permit sufficient upward movement of the pawl to eect engagement Iof the tooth 18 with the teeth 'I6V as heretofore described. Adjacent its front end, the bottom of the housing is formed with `an aperture through which extends the free end of =a dog, the opposite end of said dog being pivoted to Y the housing by means of .a bolt 59B Ion which is sleeved a spring -8'8 normally furgingthe dog upwardly through the aperture in the `bottom of 4the housing as clearly illustrated in Figure 4. The free end Vof the dog normally extends a suflicient distance upwardly through the bottom wall to engage the front 'face of the lower Yplunger Vsubja-cent the section 56 whereby to Ypreclude forward movement of the lower plunger.

upper portion of the base or outside housing by conventional support 93, adapted to be struck by the end of upper plunger 32 when it reaches its most forward point of movement. A coin recept'acle 94 is provided for the reception of coins in the base, with a removable front portion 9B, conventional hasp 98, staple l-U, and vpadlock |02. '-Ihe nuts or other vendible commodity are discharged through chute |04. The sliding hopper 30 `is fashioned with spa-ced side, top, bottom, front, rear and interjacent walls and with the interjacent wall coacting with the rear portions of said side, top and bottom walls 'and said rear wall to define a commodity receiving chamber for receiving the vendible commodity from the body portion or hopper Il). The rear portions of the top and bottom walls, overlying and underlying the kcommodity receiving chamber, are provided y-with openings IBG .and HI8 respectively whereby the commodity may be introduced within the chamber from thebody portion H3 and discharged 'therefrom into the chute |04 by gravity.V The upper `end of the rear wall is provided with la right angularly disposed rearwardly extending flange through which extends a `19011; .nu provided with anun. Prejacent the rear wall, the commodity receiving chamber is provided with a transverse partition having its upper end'provided with a rearwardly extending Vsection IM overlying the ange of the rear wall andl formed Awith a slot H2 receiving the bolt I-ID, the latter serving to clamp the partition in Y xed relation with the rear wall of `the hopper.

Obviously, by actuating the nut on the bolt H2,

2 j gitana the rear wall to vary the capacity of the chamber thereby permitting the quantity of the commodity to be regulated for vending.

In operation, the body being lled with nuts or other vendible commodity, a coin is inserted in the chute, where it falls down and is positioned in the slots of the two plungers, thus locking them together. The forward movement of operation serves to press down dog by coin passing over same to allow the `bottom plunger to move forward, when the operating lever 14 is pulled down. As operating lever 'M is plLlled down the action is transmitted through rocker arm 10 to operating rod 66, which moves forward until stud 64 reaches the forward end of slot 54 in the lower plunger, when ,the lower plunger moves forward, carrying with it the top plunger and sliding `hopper filled with nuts or other commodity Vto be vended. When the upper plunger moves forward, the rear end of the same is disengaged from the pawl thereby -enabling said pawl to be` forced upwardly by the spring S6 and tooth 18 slides over the one way ratchet teeth 16, thus permitting only a forward movement. When the forward movement has progressed until the lower opening in the sliding hopper is over the chute H34, the nuts or other commodity are discharged, the upper plunger strikes bell 92 producing a sound, and the coin drops down by gravity into the coin receptacle. When the coin is ejected into the receptacle the two plungers are unlocked, and the top plunger returns automatically to retracted position under action of coil spring 40,

v lforcing down pawl 30, -thereby releasing the tooth the partition may be .adjusted with respect Ito 'i8 from ratchet teeth 16, whereupon the lower plunger is returned to retracted or normal position, by action of spring B, and as rod 66 comes back, the rocker arm and handle are restored to normal position. Thus it will be apparent that when no coin is in the machine the handle may be operated, and the lower plunger only will move forward until it strikes the dog, which prevents further forward movement.

While I have illustrated and described my in- Y vention in somedetail, it is to be understood that I am not to be limited to such details, but only bythe spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

In a vending machine, a housing equipped with a sliding hopper operable to commodity receiving and discharging positions respectively and adapted to receive a vendible commodity, a main plunger slidably connected to said hopper for Vmovement with and relative to the hopper to said 'discharging and receiving positions respectively,

an auxiliary plunger slidably mounted in said housing adjacent said main plunger and connected to said hopper' for movement therewith to said receiving and discharging positions, both of'said plungers having coincident ends formed with coin receiving means adapted to accommo-A ing and normally disposed in the path of said auxiliary plunger to preclude movement of said auxiliary plunger to said discharging position, said coin operated means being responsive to the weight of a coin deposited thereon for disposing said coin operated means out of the path of said auxiliary plunger, ratchet means for maintaining said auxiliary plunger in said discharging position, ratchet releasing means carried by said main plunger and engaging said ratchet means to eiect release of said auxiliary plunger upon movement of said main plunger to said receiving position and thus effect retarded movement of said auxiliary plunger and said hopper to said receiving position, spring means carried by said housing and connected to both of said plungers for urging said plungers to said receiving position, and manually operated means connected to said auxiliary plunger for operating the latter and said hopper, against the urgency of said spring means, to said discharging position upon deposit of a coin within said coin receiving means.

JOHN I-I. BRIDWELL. 

